March 17, 2017•Update: March 18, 2017
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
Millions of Irish people and those just fond of the small European island nation gathered in towns and cities across the globe on Friday to celebrate the most Irish day of the year -- St. Patrick’s Day.
Celebrations in Ireland itself extend to a four-day festival in the capital Dublin and other cities including Belfast, Cork and Galway which are holding parades.
Major cities overseas -- including London, New York, Boston and Sydney -- held parades or saw their major landmarks illuminated in green.
Behind the festivities -- which mark the story of St. Patrick’s fifth-century mission to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity -- Irish governments often use the globalized celebration of Irishness to promote the country abroad.
Ministers from Ireland's cabinet attend celebrations in cities across almost every continent.
Ireland’s Taoiseach (prime minister) Enda Kenny, who is on a visit to the U.S., will join a parade in New York on Friday.
Kenny met President Donald Trump on Thursday to present him with a bowl of shamrock -- a symbol of the country -- before inviting him to Ireland for a visit during his presidency.
The Irish premier also used the occasion to press the U.S. leader on the cases of thousands of undocumented Irish people who live in the United States illegally.
“[The Irish] fought every war for America and died for America -- and will continue to do so,” Kenny told the U.S. leader. “All they want is the opportunity to be free,” he added.
Trump who previously sparked controversy in the U.K. when he was invited by Prime Minister Theresa May for a state visit in 2017, said he would visit Ireland.
Trump’s controversial policies on refugees and migrants and a travel ban on various Muslim-majority countries had provoked rallies against him not only across the U.K. but also in Ireland.
